It's part of the Obama campaign's attempt to pin Romney down as a right wing ideologue and to keep him from moving to the center in the general election. Early on, the campaign made a strategic choice to portray the GOP nominee as extreme — rather than as a flip-flopping closet moderate.

"I'm not a medical doctor," Obama said at a rally that largely focused on women's issues. "But I do want to go over some of the symptoms with you because I want to make sure nobody else catches it."

"If you say you're for equal pay for equal work, but you keep refusing to sign a bill that protects equal pay for equal work, you might have Romnesia," Obama said.

Obama said, fortunately, there is a cure for Romnesia.

"Obamacare covers preexisting conditions. We can fix you up. We've got a cure. This is a curable disease," he said.

UPDATE: The Romney campaign emails this response from Virginia delegate Barbara Comstock: “Women haven’t forgotten how we’ve suffered over the last four years in the Obama economy with higher taxes, higher unemployment, and record levels of poverty. President Obama has failed to put forward a second-term agenda – and when you don’t have a plan to run on, you stoop to scare tactics. What is really frightening is that we know a second term for President Obama will bring devastating defense cuts that will cost Virginia over 130,000 jobs, more burdensome regulations, and the biggest tax increase in history on our small businesses and families. Mitt Romney’s plan for a stronger middle class will create 12 million new jobs and provide greater opportunity for women across our nation, including Virginia. Mitt Romney is the candidate in this race who will bring us the real recovery we need.”